1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the affixation of stamps, labels and the like to articles and particularly to the attachment of adhesively coated seal stamps to packages of cuboid shape. More specifically, this invention is directed to apparatus for the extraction of stamps or labels from a magazine, the application of an adhesive thereto and the subsequent placement of the adhesive coated stamps or labels to moving packages and especially to apparatus for the attachment of seal stamps to cigarette packages. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While not limited thereto in its utility, the present invention is particularly well-suited for attaching seal stamps to cigarette packages. Devices for attaching seal stamps to cigarette or other similar packages are known in the art. For example, published German Patent Application No. 3,309,064 shows apparatus in which seal stamps are extracted from a magazine by means of an oscillating transfer arm which delivers the stamps onto projections of a rotating drum. The stamps are held on the rotating drum by suction and, as the drum rotates, are coated with glue by means of glue-receiving projections on a cooperating glue roller. Subsequent to the application of glue to the stamps, they are passed on to a transfer roller which, in turn, delivers the coated stamps to a turret. The stamps are held in the turret by means of suction and cigarette packages are pushed out of the turret toward the stamps whereby the stamps will wrap around the end faces of the packages which are pushed thereagainst. The apparatus of German Application No. 3,309,064 is quite complex in its construction and thus is expensive to manufacture and maintain.
Another example of prior art apparatus for the attachment of seal stamps to cigarette packages may be seen from published European application No. 0,034,790. In the apparatus of this European application a rotating glue segment is coated with glue by a roller and, in turn, transfers the glue onto first sides of the seal stamps as the stamps are moved by a gripper cylinder. The glue-coated seal stamps are then applied, by the gripper cylinder, to the end faces of cigarette packages which are supported in cells of a turret. The cigarette packages are subsequently pushed out of the turret into a transfer slot or tube whereupon the protruding ends of the stamps will be folded over against the sides of the packages. As is the case with the apparatus of the above-discussed German Application No. 3,309,064, the apparatus of European application No. 0,034,790 is characterized by a relatively high degree of technical complexity and thus is expensive to manufacture and use.
Another example of a prior art seal stamp applying apparatus may be seen from Federal Republic of Germany Pat. No. 1,266,210. In the apparatus of this patent a single drum is employed to extract the stamps from a magazine and apply the stamps to the packages. This drum interacts with a glue roller so that an adhesive will be applied to the backs of the stamps subsequent to their extraction from a magazine but prior to application to the packages. The drum of the apparatus of German Pat. No. 1,266,210 is characterized by a plurality of raised annular surface portions which are provided with suction ports. A "stripping-off" band is provided in the annular spaces between these annular projections and the glue roller is provided with raised portions which are complementary to these annular spaces. Accordingly, the adhesive is applied to the stamps only in the regions which are in registration with the annular spaces. This arrangement insures that the suction orifices will not be clogged with glue should there be a failure to transfer a stamp to the roller. However, the arrangement of German Pat. No. 1,266,210 has the significant disadvantage that the seal stamps are not supported in the regions where the glue is applied thereto and thus the stamps are subject to distortion and may not be properly applied to the package. Here again the apparatus is comparatively complex, and thus expensive. Further, a supplemental mechanism must be employed with the appratus of German Pat. No. 1,266,210 in order to fold the adhesively coated sealing stamps around and into contact with the sides of the packages.
The prior art is also exemplified by bottle-labeling machines such as that shown in German Pat. No. 2,826,618. Such bottle labeling machines employ glue segments, i.e., rotatable members which are in the form of a segment of a cylinder, which are both rotatable about an axis and displacable in a radial direction by means of cams. These glue segments are coated with glue via a glue roller and, when coated with the glue, directly extract the labels from a magazine and transfer glue thereto. The glue-coated labels are then transferred to a gripper cylinder which applies the labels to the bottles. Such bottle-labeling machines are also characterized by mechanical complexity, and thus comparatively high expense, and in any event are not suitable for the attachment of seal stamps to cigarette packages and the like.